The pressure was frightening — with the clock ticking down to Halloween, no pirate or princess costumes, candy corn gobbled, scary makeup fading from the shelf, a run on clown noses.

Then the word got out about North Queen Street’s Kmart selling all its costumes at half-price.

“That’s why I’m checking them out here,” said Rachel Mauldin, a billing specialist at Neil Medical Group. She and a friend searched through Kmart’s racks Tuesday, finding slashed prices but not much variety — there was an abundance of generic witch, lady bug, Crayola crayons and zombie-like costumes.

No clown noses, and Darlene Clarols, a Kmart shopper, said she’d looked everywhere for one.

Naturally, last-minute Halloween shoppers are stuck with the leftovers.

Assistant store manager Jane Pate said the hot commodities this Halloween season have been Disney princess and Captain Jack Sparrow of Pirates of the Caribbean costumes.

“Those are the first ones gone,” she said.

As Halloween crept up, Pate said the makeup faded from the shelves, too.

“It’s been tremendously selling out,” she said. “Today and tomorrow, we’ll really knock a lot of it out.”

While Kmart attracted costume shoppers, the Dollar Tree in the Kinston Pointe plaza won the candy bid.

Managers said bags of Tootsie Rolls and pops sell quickly. The store overstocked on candy to prepare for customers to clean them out.

Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 or jessika.morgan@kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.

BREAKOUT BOX:

Have a safe Halloween

Trick-or-Treating safety tips from Kinston Department of Public Safety: